Frequently Asked Questions

An initiative of ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria's community foundation (Learn more about ACT for Alexandria), ACTion Alexandria is a new online civic engagement initiative with three main goals

Create a vibrant online platform that inspires offline action, where challenges are posted, solutions are debated, successes and failures are archived, data is both disseminated and captured, stories are shared, and essential civic relationships developed.

Improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable residents in a cost-efficient manner through a platform that provides everyone a voice and the opportunity to identify problems and offer solutions.

Engage residents and business people in problem solving to strengthen community ties and increase each individual’s stake in creating positive outcomes for specific community problems.

After registering, you will receive an email to confirm your membership. Once you’ve confirmed and logged in, you can start creating Actions and adding your Ideas, events and blog posts. You can access after you log in by clicking on “My Dashboard” at the top of the website.

Where’s my password?

If you haven’t received an email from us, please check your spam folder, first. If you still cannot find it, please email the Community Manager at info@actionalexandria.org with your username, email, and first and last name. Please give us 48 hours to respond to your email.

What’s the difference between an Idea and Idea Challenge?

An Idea Challenge is a question put to the community for feedback or solutions. It can come from ACTion or ACT for Alexandria, the City, a nonprofit or a group of citizens that want your feedback.

An Idea is a post in response to an Idea Challenge. You can post as many Ideas as you have and to as many different challenges as you like.

Our main Idea Challenge on our homepage and Challenge page is “What’s Your Bright Idea for Alexandria?” If you have an idea that would improve Alexandria but doesn’t fit into any of the featured or current challenges, you may post it under our main Idea Challenge.

What’s an Action? How do take or start an Action?

Actions let you recruit volunteers, get petition signatures or help crowdfund a small project. Check out some of our past Action to get an idea of what works best. Watch our videos below to learn how start an action.

How can I post an Idea?

How many Ideas can I support?

You can support one Idea three times or three Ideas once or any combination thereof. Be as generous or picky as you like!

How do I get support for my Idea?

Go to the Idea you submitted and click on the link. Underneath the title you should see a Share prompt followed by icons to Facebook, Twitter and Email. Simply choose one (or all) of them and your Idea will be automagically linked in your post.

What if an Idea gets a lot of support?

When Idea gets substantial community support, we’ll try to get others organized around that Idea. If you think an Idea is worth pursuing, please let us know if you’re interested in becoming an Idea Captain and we’ll get in touch with you to help figure out a way to get others organized.